Régulo Caro

Regulo Caro is a singer/songwriter of Mexican Regional music and a celebrated recording artist. His songs have been covered by Gerardo Ortiz, Julión Alvarez, Los Bohemios de Sinaloa, Los Nuevos Rebeldes, Banda MS, Raúl Hernández, Los Buitres y Alfredito Olivas, and many more. His debut album, 2010′s Música, Pólvora y Sangre, got his songs across to numerous artists in the regional scene. He followed it two years later with Amor en Tiempos de Guerra, which was nominated for a Latin Grammy. With 2014′s Senzu Rah, Caro established himself as a progenitor of the alternative corridos movement. In 2016, after playing all over Mexico and the United States, Caro issued En Estos Dias and returned to the road. On the strength of its singles and videos, the set peaked at number four on the Mexican Regional Albums chart. While Caro’s urban stance made him a somewhat controversial artist, it also endeared him to musicians and won him new fans on both sides of the border. In addition to his standard catalog of releases, he has issued multiple volumes entitled Mi Guitarra y Yo. Unlike many of his peers, Caro is particularly adept at writing erudite and passionate love songs. In addition to his legion of fans, the ballad volumes have appealed to more traditionally minded listeners. The fourth Mi Guitarra y Yo entry was released the same year, a few months before the year-ending conceptual album The Real Emilio Garra.
Caro was born in 1981 on a ranch in Badiraguato, Sinaloa. Music was part and parcel of his household in his immediate and extended family. He was enthralled with norteño songs and bandas from the time he could walk, and he learned the fundamentals of guitar-playing from an uncle; he advanced his skills by learning to play along with recordings. He formed his first band at 13, and at 16 was playing business conventions, family events, and regional gatherings. He gave up music for a time to attend college, where he received a degree in business administration. After graduating, he worked briefly, but his grandfather intervened and encouraged him to pursue music as a career.
Caro’s initial break came after vocalist and cousin Gerardo Ortíz recorded a couple of his songs and brought him to the attention of Mexico’s Del Records. The label signed him to a recording and publishing deal. Música Polvora y Sangre, his debut offering, appeared in 2011 to rave reviews and respectable chart success. Caro’s alternative approach to writing gave his norteño and banda tunes irresistible hooks and unusual tuba lines. His 2012 follow-up, Amor en Tiempos de Guerra, received massive radio airplay and chart recognition. It was nominated for a Latin Grammy. In August of 2013, he released his third album, Especialista, which hit the Top 40 in the Top Latin albums chart. By contrast, Senzu Rah, issued a year later, hit number two and placed in the Top 100 pop albums charts. The record eventually went gold and was nominated for a Latin Grammy. Del issued two compilation volumes of love songs, My Guitarra y Yo, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, which kept the heat on fans as Caro toured.
In February of 2016, he released the hit single “Cicatriiices.” It placed well inside the Top Ten of the Hot Latin Songs and digital charts. The full-length En Estos Dias followed in the fall. It entered the Hot Latin Albums chart at number four and number two on the Mexican Regional Albums chart. Mi Guitarra y Yo, Vol. 3 followed in 2018 with a fourth volume appearing in 2019, the same year as a concept outing introducing Caro’s complex alter-ego, The Real Emilio Garra. It was released exclusively to streaming and video. In 2020, he released Todo Va a Esta Bien. Its love songs and regional ballads stood in stark contrast to the track “Have Falta Alfredo,” a narcocorrido celebrating the rise and fall of the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, delivered by “Emilio Garra.” In June, Caro appeared as a guitarist and backing vocalist on Martin Castillo’s dramatic “Pocos Amigos” single. ~ Thom Jurek